


When the Wheels Come Off

by Ysabetwordsmith



Series: Love Is For Children [27]
Category: The Avengers (Marvel Movies), The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types
Genre: #coulsonlives, Age Play, Asking for help and getting it, Broken Toys, Bruce Banner Needs a Hug, Caregiving, Clint Needs a Hug, Competency, Coping, Creativity, Cuddling & Snuggling, Current Environment Is Safe, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Emotional Overload, Families of Choice, Family, Fluff and Angst, Friendship, Gen, Gentleness, Healthy Relationships, Healthy Touch, Help, Hugs, Non-Sexual Age Play, Non-Sexual Intimacy, Non-sexual, Past Abuse, Platonic Cuddling, Team as Family, Touch-Starved, Touching, Toys, Trust, Trust Issues, Unconventional Families
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-11-30
Updated: 2015-11-30
Packaged: 2018-05-04 05:39:05
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,730
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5322521
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ysabetwordsmith/pseuds/Ysabetwordsmith
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Clint and Bruce wind up playing together during game night.  Bruce is easily upset.  Clint's coping skills are farther along and Uncle Phil is happy to help them fix things.</p>
            </blockquote>





	When the Wheels Come Off

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Zelofheda](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Zelofheda/gifts).



> This fill was written for Zelofheda as an adjunct to the "Pay It Forward" project. It also fills the "emotional overload" square in [my 11-3-15 card](http://ysabetwordsmith.dreamwidth.org/10392419.html) for the Disaster Bingo fest and the "hurt/comfort" square in [my 10-1-15 card](http://ysabetwordsmith.dreamwidth.org/10365505.html) for the Trope Bingo fest.
> 
> A note on feedback: While it's not necessary to comment on every post I make, remember that I don't know who reads/likes things if nobody says anything. Particularly on long stories, I've discovered that I get antsy if there's nothing but crickets chirping for several posts. So it helps to give me feedback at least once, even if it's just "I like this" or "This one doesn't grab me." First and last episodes are ideal if you rarely feel inspired to comment in the middle.
> 
> I also have a list of [favorite photogenic scenes](http://ysabetwordsmith.dreamwidth.org/9313791.html) from the whole series for fanartists to consider, partly compiled from audience requests.
> 
> The end notes don't all fit, so I have moved some here:
> 
> [Playing jacks](http://www.wikihow.com/Play-Jacks) requires at least [two colors](http://www.retroplanet.com/PROD/24862.html) and [preferably more](https://lupusadventurebetweenthelines.files.wordpress.com/2012/06/jacks-colored.jpg) in order to enjoy some of the more complex options. You need more skill to grab only a certain color, or a specific combination of colors. I grew up with the nice multicolored metal ones; the modern plastic kind have terrible handling in comparison.
> 
> [Superballs](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Super_Ball) are exceptionally bouncy balls in [an assortment of sizes](https://www.teachengineering.org/collection/ucla_/activities/ucla_superball/ucla_superball_activity1_image1web.jpg). They are good for games and [science projects](https://www.teachengineering.org/view_activity.php?url=collection/ucla_/activities/ucla_superball/ucla_superball_activity1.xml).

Game night got quieter when Betty and Natka started some intricate game that involved eight colors of anodized metal jacks and four balls in two different sizes. Clint found it mildly interesting to watch, but he wasn't into girl games much himself, and playing with the train wreck by himself was about as much fun as playing with it when the wheels come off and it won't go anymore.

Tony and Bruce were stuck together like glue, playing some science geek game on the coffee table. Apparently it involved fireworks and not actually knowing which cards you held. Clint found it silly, but Tony and Bruce loved it.

Steve and Bucky had just begun a game of Bausack Towers. They were both good enough to give Clint a challenge, and they didn't mind adding him even though they'd already started it without him. It was the kind where you took turns building the same tower so it didn't make much difference how many players you had.

Steve won the first round because Clint _sneezed_ and knocked over the tower. Bucky laughed and poked Clint in the ribs with a metal finger, making him giggle, and the two of them got into a tickle fight while leaving Steve to pick up the pieces by himself. Which seemed like a great idea until Steve declared that he'd done all the work so he was going first, and then put down the cup with the egg inside it.

"You stink," said Clint.

"Play nice, children," said Uncle Phil, curling down one corner of his newspaper to look at them.

"Yeah, yeah," Clint said. He managed to balance a flat slab over the tip of the egg.  
  
Bucky actually got the thin wedge to stand on end against the rim of the cup. But as soon as Steve touched the tower, it collapsed, making Bucky the winner.

They played a few more rounds before Clint got tired of the game. Looking around, he saw that Tony had fallen asleep on the couch and Bruce was glumly packing the cards back into their box. "Hey, Bruce, you wanna play with me for a bit?" asked Clint.

"Play what?" Bruce said.

Clint looked around the room for inspiration, and spied the radio-controlled car that Tony had abandoned earlier in the afternoon. "How about this?" Clint said, lifting the car. "We can get blocks and stuff to build ramps for it to drive over."  
"Okay," Bruce said around the fingers stuck in his mouth.

So Clint got the blocks and the long thin slats of wood that they used to make roads or ramps. Bruce turned out to be great at making ramps and bridges, although he was not as good as Tony when it came to steering the little car.  
  
"It's no big deal," Clint said. "This isn't a race, it's just for fun."

They played around with different ideas. First they built ramps for the car to jump over things. Then they built a maze to go through. Next Bruce built a loopy track of hills and valleys around Clint, and wouldn't let Clint turn around. That meant driving behind his back without being able to see the path. Clint managed to complete the circuit, though, and Bruce clapped.

Then they worked on building the highest bridges they could, with ramps to get on and off. Clint drove the car across Bruce's bridge. Then Bruce tried to get over Clint's bridge, but bumped into the railing and the whole thing fell apart. The car tumbled to the floor, its front axle rolling away with both wheels still attached.

Bruce began to sniffle. He made no effort to pick up the car, or even the blocks.

Clint scurried to grab the broken car in one hand and the axle in the other. "Don't cry," he said. "It'll probably pop right back on."  
  
But when he got a closer look, he saw that the little half-circle clip that held the axle had broken off. Clint looked around and couldn't find it.  
  
Bruce hiccupped, his shoulders shaking. He wasn't very good at coping with the kind of occasion when the wheels come off.

"Okay, look, it's not so bad, we'll just get some help," Clint said.

"Napping," Bruce whimpered, pointing to Tony.

So Clint went and tugged on Uncle Phil's sleeve. "The front axle came off our car, and the clip's busted," he said. "We need your help to fix it."

"I'll come do that for you," said Uncle Phil. He folded his newspaper neatly and set it aside.

Bruce's tears had gotten louder, making the other littles look up anxiously. He tended to stay quiet, and any emotional overload bad enough for audible crying was a pretty bad sign.

Uncle Phil sat down right on the floor and cuddled him. "Clint, why don't you put away the blocks to clear the floor and find that missing piece," Uncle Phil said. "I'll take care of Bruce."

"Okay," said Clint, and started picking up the blocks.

"All smashed," Bruce said.

"I think it's only a little smashed," Uncle Phil said. "I bet we can fix it. I'm actually rather good at repairing broken toys."

"But people yell when I break things," Bruce said.

"That's not very nice of them," Uncle Phil said. Then he cupped a hand to his ear. "I don't hear any yelling, do you?"

Bruce snuffled and wiped his nose on his sleeve. "No."

"Then there's nothing to worry about. You didn't break anything on purpose," Uncle Phil said. "Now don't use your sleeve as a handkerchief." He produced a proper hankie from his pocket and held it over Bruce's nose. "Blow."

Bruce obeyed.

"Good boy," said Uncle Phil.

"I found it!" Clint crowed, holding up the clip. "It's still in one piece, it just came off the car's belly."

"All right, let's see now ... this fits here, so all it needs is a bit of glue," said Uncle Phil as he matched the parts together. "JARVIS, do we have the right kind of adhesive for this in the tower, or will we need to order it?"

"Not in the common room, but certainly on the fabrication floors," JARVIS replied. "I will send it up."

"Thank you," said Uncle Phil.

By the time a runner brought the glue up, Clint had finished putting away the blocks. "Can we help?" Clint asked.

"Of course you can," Uncle Phil said. "Bruce can lay out the newspaper, and you can line up the pieces. I'll do the gluing."

So Bruce brought the newspaper page that was all ads. Clint laid out the car on its back, then the clip and the axis.

Carefully Uncle Phil applied a dot of glue to the car. Then he pressed the clip back where it belonged. When he lifted his hand, the clip stayed put. "JARVIS, how long does this glue take to set?"

"About fifteen minutes; I have set a timer," said JARVIS.

"It's really nice to see people fix things," said Steve. "Most folks nowadays just throw stuff away. I hate the waste."

Bucky nodded. Clint and Bruce nodded. Everyone nodded but Tony, who was awake again, but had never been poor except for those months in Afghanistan that he really didn't like to talk about.

"Well, let's try out a new game I've been wanting to play," said Uncle Phil. "It's cheap, fun, and flexible. Everyone gather together."

He went to the cabinet and brought out a packet of index cards and a set of ballpoint art pens in various colors. He opened the cards and dealt five to each player.

"Uh, these are _blank,"_ Steve said.

"Yes! This game is called 1000 Blank White Cards," said Uncle Phil. "The players make up the rules as we go along. You can put down anything you want. As a general suggestion, it helps to include a title, an illustration, and instructions. Everyone start by making one card and showing it to the team."

Bruce poked Clint, who was sitting beside him. "I dunno what to put."

"Neither do I," Clint said with a shrug. He grabbed a pen at random. "Looks like I got the red. Oh! I know!" He drew circles on his card and wrote, _The Target: If this card is in front of you, people want to shoot you_.

Bucky laughed and held up his card: _The Sniper: You get to shoot people. Anyone you shoot is out of the game_. Under the black text he had drawn crosshairs over a HYDRA goon clutching his chest.

Steve hummed quietly, alternating between green and blue pens, more absorbed in the art than the game.

Bruce waited until Steve put down the green, then picked it up in his left fist. He scribbled something, put down the green, switched to purple, and scribbled something else. The card had no text, just two teddy bears hugging.

"Aww," said Clint, and hugged him. "That's my favorite card."

"Am I doing this wrong?" Betty wondered. "I just borrowed a rule from another game. I'm not really sure how this one is supposed to work." She showed off hers, _Draw two extra cards,_ written in pink.

"I had the same problem, actually," said Uncle Phil. He had used several colors to make a spinner that said, _Take another turn_. "I'm sure we'll work it out with practice."

Tony had drawn a monkeywrench that said, _Fix anything_.

"Oh, that's a good one," said Clint, and Bruce nodded.

Natka's card, written in red, said, _Rule: Games should have dice,_ above several sketchy cubes.

"Okay, I'm done," said Steve. He showed his card, a beautifully rendered blue-and-green Earth in a pink hand that read, _Action: Save the world_.

"With that, you could totally own me in a charity auction," Tony said.

"It's not for sale," Steve huffed. "It's for the _game."_

"All right, now that everyone has an idea how this works, make another card but keep it hidden," said Uncle Phil. He waited for them to finish that. "When it's your turn, draw a card, then play a card." He played, _Something mechanical comes apart,_ illustrated by a picture of a broken-down battle robot with the Hammer logo on it. "This one doesn't do anything yet, but now that I've played it, if there's a card with a machine, I can make it stop working."

Tony snickered. "I wanna picture of that for my screensaver."

"As you wish, young sir," said JARVIS.

"It's your turn next, Natka," said Uncle Phil.

Natka played _Games should have dice_.

"What kind of dice?" Tony asked.

"Natka, go pick out some dice," Uncle Phil suggested.

She went to the cabinet, brought out the bag of mixed dice, and poured it onto the coffee table. The pieces skittered everywhere. Bruce and Clint hastened to cup their hands over the edge of the table to keep the dice from escaping.  
Then it was Clint's turn. He waffled between his original _Target_ and his newly drawn _Purple dice count double_. Then he played the _Target_ card on Steve, because well, truth in advertising.

Bucky cracked up laughing. "You know him too well."

"Shut it, you," said Steve, and shoved him.

"Now don't start roughhousing, or we won't get to finish this game," Uncle Phil warned.  
  
They settled down at once.  
  
Next Bruce played his card. It simply had a picture of a first aid kit, a big box with a prominent red cross on it.

"Let me guess, if someone gets shot, that lets you save them?" said Clint.

Bruce nodded happily.

Tony laid down _Roll 2d6 and get that many points_. Then he rolled a pair of fives and wrote down his ten points.

"What are the points for?" Steve asked.

"I dunno," Tony said with a shrug.  
  
Steve played _Action: Trade hands with your neighbor_.

"Gee, Steve, I know mine comes off but don't you think that's a bit much?" Bucky said dryly.

Steve stuck his tongue out at Bucky and snatched Bucky's cards, pushing his own over in exchange.

Bucky put down _Save the world_. "At least this time, I know I'll get there in time."

They kept going until Clint played _Whoever has 2 thing cards in front of them wins,_ and Bruce followed it by playing a munchie bag beside the first aid kit.

For the second round, Uncle Phil collected all the filled cards and made a deck with them. Next he dealt five new blanks to everyone. "When it's your turn, draw a card from the deck," he said. "Then you may either play a filled card, or fill and play a new one."

Now that people had some idea about what _kinds_ of cards to make -- things, actions, rules, even ones that didn't affect play but were just fun -- the game went a lot smoother. It also helped that they were learning how some cards could interact with others, like pairs of things or actions and blockers. One player's new card idea could spark lots more.

Clint noticed that Bruce preferred to illustrate all his cards instead of writing on them, and Steve -- who would've been the one to draw everything, if Clint had been guessing -- always put a title, text, and picture on his. Clint himself experimented with both, but found that he usually needed to include some combination of picture and words to get his point across without requiring extra explanation.

Then Betty played _Get some new stuff!_ and raided the cabinet for glue sticks, scissors, and the old magazines they used for crafts. She started working on one of her blank cards, turning it into a collage.

"Me too!" Bruce said, and Betty pushed some of the supplies toward him. He started making, very openly, a collage of fruit.  
  
"Is that fruit salad?" Clint asked.

Bruce nodded.

"You wanna leave it just pictures, or can I write in the name for you?" Clint said.

When Bruce finished gluing down the last banana, he pushed the card and the green pen at Clint.

"One fruit salad label, coming up," Clint said, and carefully wrote it in the white space left at one end of the card.

Not long after that, Steve played, _Demand: Need food now!_ and everyone laughed.

Bruce pushed the fruit salad card to him.

On Natka's turn, she put down _Roll strange dice_. She chose a big green one with squiggles and a big white one with walls. After rolling them, she said, "Hmm," and pointed to the green one. "The tentacle means I can reach out and take something." She snitched Steve's fruit salad card.

"Hey," he protested. "Can she do that? It doesn't say on the card."

"It doesn't say _not,"_ Natka said. "Dice are for making things happen."

"You don't even know what that one really means," Steve said. "Uncle Phil got it in a job lot, it's not from a game we have."

"I like the job lots. We get cool things that way," Clint said, sticking up for Uncle Phil.

Just then JARVIS pinged the timer and announced, "It has been fifteen minutes. The glue should be set on the car. Uncle Phil, please check it."

Uncle Phil checked the repair. "It seems to be solid." He snapped the axle back into place. Then he set the car on the least-card-covered part of the coffee table and gave it a gentle nudge. It rolled to Bruce. "All fixed," Uncle Phil declared.  
Bruce turned the car around and rolled it back to Uncle Phil.

"Are you done playing with this now?" Uncle Phil asked.

Bruce nodded.

"Clint, please put the car away," said Uncle Phil.

So Clint took the car and put it in back in the cabinet with its controller. When he returned to his seat, Natka said, "It is your turn now."

Maybe it should've been obvious that Steve wouldn't be terrifically fond of a game where the rules changed as they went along, but it could have been worse. Clint liked it, though. At least they weren't arguing anymore, and the car was fixed, and game night had turned out fine even if the wheels had come off for a little while.

Clint looked at his cards and knew just what he wanted to play. He put down the hugging bears card.

Bruce leaned over and hugged him.

"Best game ever," Clint declared.

**Author's Note:**

> [Hanabi](http://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/98778/hanabi) is a cooperative card game about fireworks, originally sold with rules for a competitive version, [Ikebana](http://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/70918/hanabi-ikebana).
> 
> [Crying](http://raisingchildren.net.au/articles/crying.html) is a natural mode of communication for children, or Littles in ageplay scenes. It is [vitally important that adults respond to crying](http://www.naturalchild.org/jan_hunt/crying.html), so that children learn healthy interactions. Neglected or abused children, like Bruce, may [lose part or all of their ability to cry](https://faithallen.wordpress.com/2011/12/14/inability-to-cry-about-child-abuse/), which can have dire consequences. Bruce tends to stifle his own emotions by fobbing them off on Hulk. Know how to [comfort crying children](http://www.scholastic.com/teachers/article/ages-stages-how-calm-and-comfort-children).
> 
> [Learned helplessness](https://bnarcissisticabuserecovery.runboard.com/t114) is a condition where mistreatment causes people to give up trying to escape. This can happen [with abuse](http://www.familyshelterservice.org/pdf/survivor.pdf). In canon, Bruce is resigned to abuse because it's still happening, right through _Age of Ultron_ when nobody listened to him and shit happened and no wonder Hulk nonverbally told them all to go fuck themselves. In this series, I've established that he is very slowly learning how his new friends _will_ help him if he needs it, but he's still not good at asking for it yet. He is getting better at _accepting_ help when offered. One catch is that there's a difference between _believing_ yourself to be helpless and _being_ helpless. Another is that seeking help has _costs,_ such as time, energy, money, and getting the shit beat out of you. People in hellish situations may not have access to help and/or reaching for it may do more harm than good. It only counts as learned helplessness if the situation has factually changed so that effective help is available and the person still does not use it. But even then, it is a perfectly rational response because they didn't make up that belief out of nowhere; it came from extensive experience. It just changes from being a valid and useful tactic (don't seek help because it doesn't work and might make matters worse) to being invalid and destructive, when the situation changes. Compare [learned helplessness with watchful waiting](http://opendoorsnh.blogspot.com/2014/01/looking-at-learned-helplessness-through.html). The latter is what Tony does.
> 
> There are ways to repair [toy vehicles](http://www.ebay.com/gds/How-to-Repair-Toy-Vehicles-/10000000177633832/g.html) and [radio-controlled toys](http://www.ebay.com/gds/How-to-Repair-Your-Radio-Control-Toys-/10000000177633822/g.html). One thing that helps is [taking apart old toys](http://tinkering.exploratorium.edu/sites/default/files/Instructions/toy_take_apart_0.pdf) to see how they work.
> 
> [1000 Blank White Cards](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1000_Blank_White_Cards) is a game invented [by a bored geek](http://www.gamegrene.com/node/67). You play it by [writing rules on the blank cards](http://www.wikihow.com/Play-1000-Blank-White-Cards), so it's related to other games like [Dvorak](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dvorak_\(game\)) and [Calvinball](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Calvin_and_Hobbes#Calvinball) that rely on evolving rules. Here are [some examples](http://1000blankwhitecards.blogspot.com/).
> 
> [Ballpoint art pens](http://www.dickblick.com/products/pilot-precise-v5xf-7-color-set/) come in various colors and won't bleed or smear even if wet.
> 
> This is a typical [batch of mixed dice](http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-SxByno3YBuQ/TkS1mKyjMAI/AAAAAAAAAF8/1Q0kw73RLBk/s1600/dice2.JPG) such as gamers tend to collect. Note that some of them do not have numbers, but other symbols instead.
> 
> [Contact comfort](https://psychlopedia.wikispaces.com/Contact+comfort) delivers reassurance through touch. People [need this kind of healthy touch](http://ysabetwordsmith.dreamwidth.org/9249804.html). Bruce-and-Hulk and Clint have become touch-buddies for this purpose. Know how to [hug](http://www.wikihow.com/Hug) or [cuddle](http://www.wikihow.com/Cuddle) someone.

**Works inspired by this one:**

  * [Cover art for "When the Wheels Come Off"](https://archiveofourown.org/works/12608152) by [Lehorin](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lehorin/pseuds/Lehorin)




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